Archive for the 'design' Category

Tiction: Animated, Nodal Generative Music App in Progress, in Processing

Published
by
Peter Kirn
on 9/19/2008
in alternative-interfaces, code, design, experimental, generative, interaction-design, interactive, interactive-music, interfaces, news, open-source, physics, processing.org, programming, research and sequencers
. Closed

Electronic music is filled with grids and repeating loops. But get off that grid, and you can quickly wind up, well, floating in space. The challenge of marrying music that’s pre-sequenced with music that can generate itself, between self-evolving music and music that you can control live, is the challenge a lot of people are exploring right now. Hans Kuder has been sharing a promising-looking project on the CDM forums, built in the code-sketching tool Processing (site | CDMu | CDMo). The idea: explore nodes live and let your sequences float free on the screen.

Hans writes:

tiction - early prototype 1 from Hans Kuder on Vimeo.

tiction is a sequencing / performance application that tries to bridge generative music with live improvisation. With it you can create looping (or one-shot) sequences whose pitch and controller values change based on screen position. When a node fires its event, subtle or not-so-subtle physical interactions take place, giving life to the system.

Tiction v0.1 is now available as a free download for Mac, Windows, and Linux. I’ll be adding updates over the next couple weeks, but most of the useful features are already in place.

This is just a graphical interface; actual sound happens elsewhere, via MIDI. (Hans includes instructions for inter-app MIDI on Mac. On Windows, you should try MIDI-Yoke or Hubi’s MIDI Loopback.)

The video above is slightly older than the release you get, so there’s an extra reason to go grab it.

Free software + code + description/instructions for Mac, Windows, Linux. Version 0.1; expecting more soon!

Tiction @ Tink Thank Software

Before someone else says it, no, the idea here isn’t entirely new. It’s especially reminiscent of the work done by Toshio Iwai, best known recently for his Tenori-On hardware and ElectroPlankton DS software, who had experimented with similar interfaces — though generally minus some of the physics here. But then, we got a lot of mileage out of simple step sequencers, and they’ve evolved a lot. It’ll be interesting to see what new interfaces people can cook up.

Those of you Processing users, one tip. Hans is using the ProMIDI Java library, but there’s a better library evolving called RWMidi from our friends over at Ruin & Wesen, plus a driver that will fix problems with MIDI support and Java on some Macs — check out OSXMidiSPI for OS X (direct download).

Brilliant work, Hans! Readers with feedback, please pipe up since Hans asked for it; otherwise, I’ll be interested to see how this evolves!

One more video:

tiction - early prototype 2 from Hans Kuder on Vimeo.

Aurora: Gorgeous, Open Source DJ-Style USB Controller; Details from the Creators

Published
by
Peter Kirn
on 7/9/2008
in Ableton Live, Controllers, Electronics, Hardware, MIDI, USB, aurora, creative-commons, design, dj, live, news and open-source
. Closed

The Aurora 224 is a DJ-style controller geared for software like Ableton Live. The design is, as you can see, gorgeous: not only is it at the high end of aesthetics in open gear, but it celebrates its DIY nature by exposing the circuit board. It’s USB powered, and offers easy mixing control functions in a 2-channel, DJ-oriented layout. And it lights up and makes pretty colors.

Hack a Day broke the story –

Aurora open source hardware mixer

– but to be clear, it’s not actually a mixer; that is, it doesn’t mix audio signal. It’s just a controller in a mixer layout; any mixing and DJ functions are provided by your software. But it is freely-licensed from the ground up, under a Creative Commons license. (We’ve been seeing CC more and more in music projects, as opposed to the narrower and more programmer-oriented GPL and other licenses. There’s no word yet on which CC license applies to this project, whether it has non-commercial or ShareAlike restrictions, etc.; I’ll post an update soon. See discussion on the Virtual Turntable blog.)

A video with Ableton Live, plus CDM chats with the creators about more details:

aurora Open Source DJ Mixer\MIDI Hardware w/ Ableton Live from aurora mixer on Vimeo.

Project description:

aurora is an open source USB midi controller with user controlled ambient RGB illumination. It combines a standard DJ mixer with 18 effects knobs and 6 toggle switches in a form factor of only 7 x 10 inches. We envision the device as an alternative to bulkier, less affordable, less ergonomic commerical MIDI devices. Currently, many commerical controllers are designed with a wide range of applications in mind. For aurora, we wanted to return to the basics.

Many of us have asked for a controller with "two channels and and a cross fader." These familiar features are included, along with additional knobs and buttons for enhanced control. We believe this arrangement enhances the artist’s creativity and allows for greater control of the software. Using aurora with Ableton Live is a great example of this. Artists have already embraced digital audio and laptop performance. The mixer is designed to be portable. It easily fits in a backpack with your laptop and sound card.

We believe in open source. aurora is designed with this in mind, so essentially anyone can participate in writing firmware or software, or even create their own hardware. In fact, we encourage it, and hope to create a community of users that support this device.

For a technical discussion of the project, we have included a white paper on the website.

Aurora is Matt Aldrich, Mike Garbus and Maro Sciacchitano. They all currently reside in the DC metro area.

The Aurora Team tells CDM a bit more about the thinking behind the license and pricing (which is currently waiting on gauging interest):

We intended for this to be publicly available and 100% open source, so that anyone can build their own device at any time, exactly how they want. All content falls under the Creative Commons License The amount of interest in this project has been incredible. Regarding sourcing, we are waiting on quotes from a contract manufacturer and we will determine the cost of sourcing a fully assembled and tested controller. We expect to have the numbers Thursday and will hopefully announce the price that day. We are also exploring a simple kit that consists of a PCB and two programmed PICs for the guys who love soldering.

So got that? If you’re interested, drop them a line by Thursday! We’ll follow up with the response, pricing, and other details, and hopefully a full-on interview – if you have questions you want answered, ask them here and I’ll pass them along.

I love the idea of a simple kit; I hope they do that.

aurora mixer project site

New Turntablism Concepts: Touchscreen Decks, Crossfader Samplers, Needles

Published
by
Peter Kirn
on 5/23/2008
in Hardware, Max/MSP, Scratch, Software, alternative-interfaces, design, diy, dj, news, patching, touch, turntablism and vinyl
. Closed

We’re seeing more and more unique ideas for reimagining DJing and the two-turntable setup. Here are two examples from opposite ends of the spectrum: one employs a non-traditional interface to do traditional DJing in a new way, while the other uses the traditional interface to produce new DJ techniques. To me, the latter is more interesting, but both are meaningful parts of the process.

From the excellent PSFK, Dan Gould finds a project by Scott Hobbs, a Dundee University (UK) student, building a project that access sampling, looping, and scratching features via touchscreens, instead of desks. (Via Gizmodo — thanks, Goldfinger!)